When I was a kid in 1979, I recall seeing a newspaper photograph of New Orleans Saints fans wearing bags over their heads as the team was playing dismal football.
But, thanks to current Saints quarterback Drew Brees, 33, who ironically helped the team win the Super Bowl in 2010 by defeating the Indianapolis Colts, whose quarterback is Peyton Manning_ the son of the legendary Saints quarterback Archie Manning, no one wears bags over their heads at the Superdome any more.
Brees played college football for Purdue University in Indiana, and he is originally from Austin, Texas. Here is his quip:
"We found something was working....and, we stuck with it."
SIDEBAR: Since there are sitting members of the U.S. Congress, including Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC), a conservative Democrat who stated he was stepping down at the end of his term this year, who were once pro athletes, it may seem like the odd mixture of sports and politics is a uniquely American team.
But, in Turkey, my late father's country, that is definitely not the case.
In fact, Turkey's current prime minister, the politically conservative Recep Tayyip Erdogan (whom I oppose politically) was once a soccer player for the Istanbul team Kasimpasa, now playing in the second division. The team actually now plays its games in what is now Recep Tayyip Erdogan Stadium.
Two of Turkey's soccer legends Tanju Colak and Hakan Sukur, who both played for Istanbul powerhouse GalataSaray (Tanju also played for that team's main rival Fenerbahce), both members of Erdogan's AK-Party, have made efforts to enter the Turkish parliament.
SIDEBAR TWO: As Al Pacino, whose films seem to always perform well at the Turkish box office, said in "The Godfather, Part III," regarding the mafia: "I wanted to get out, but they kept dragging me back in."
The same could be said for Turkish soccer, which has not generated as many blog hits from Turkey as I would like (but, we are popular in Slovenia?!).
But, there have been some interesting developments in the Turkish Premiere League, both domestically and in European play.
Yesterday, Istanbul powerhouse Besiktas beat the Portuguese team Braga in Portugal 2-0 with a goal coming from the Portuguese player Simao Sabrosa (who plays for the Turkish team). Over the weekend, Besiktas tied SivasSpor 1-1 in domestic play.
GalataSaray, which did not qualify for European play, beat KayseriSpor 1-0 over the weekend on a goal from Brazilian player Felipe Melo in the 32nd minute.
Our favorite team BursaSpor was also victorious as they beat MainsaSpor 3-1 in part from a goal from Gokcek Vederson, a Brazilian national who not only obtained Turkish citizenship, but also changed his named (Gokcek is a Turkish name).
SIDEBAR 3: Cross-cultural players have actually become the norm in European soccer, especially in Turkey. PM Erdogan's former team Kasimpasa beat second league-rival Karsiyaka (Izmir) 1-0 on a last-minute goal from Halil Colak, a Turkish player born in Holland who is classified as a Turkish national.
Kasimpasa also features Azar Karadas, a Norwegian-born player of Turkish heritage. He is a Norwegian national.
Lastly, this team which is in second place in their league, features Ali Bilgin, a German-born player of Turkish heritage who plays for........Germany.
